


Love is just another four letter word (But that never stopped nobody)

by BigBadBat



Series: Fuck butterflies in my stomach, you made flowers bloom in my heart [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy angst lol, Lance (Voltron) is a Dork, Lance (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, Light Angst, Lovey-Dovey, Matchmaker Hunk, Matchmaker Lance, Matchmaker Pidge, Matt is adorable, Meme team bonding, Pet Names, Pining Allura (Voltron), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, and even Matchmaker Coran, blind date (?), matt holt is a dork, sort of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-18 15:02:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14855004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigBadBat/pseuds/BigBadBat
Summary: Matt is back, they have freed half of the universe and were stronger than ever, but the eldest Holt sibling was prepared to fight a rebellion, not for his sister to have a boyfriend and to meet a lovely alien princess. Those two took him by surprise, especially the part in which she found his puns funny.





	Love is just another four letter word (But that never stopped nobody)

**Author's Note:**

> This is the fluff before the angstiest of 'em angst

"C'mon, Kittie-Katie, just take a nap," said Lance, resting his chin on his girlfriend's shoulder, pouting. "I promise I'll wake you up in twenty minutes, just take a quick nap."

"I promise as soon as I finish this book I'll get as much sleep as I can," she said, cupping his cheek and turning around to give him a peck on his lips.

"You said that three _encyclopedias_  ago," he remarked, closing the book on her hands and dragging her away.

"Hey! Let go of me!" she said however, she didn't resist.

"You need to sleep."

"I don't," she replied yawning and coming to her senses. 

Since Lance had assumed she wouldn't put up a fight (silly mistake) his grip on her wrist wasn't tight so all it took was a quick yank and running at her fastest pace back to the library. She was quicker than her boyfriend, so she the book and had enough time to hide  between the bookshelves of the third floor; no way Lance would think she had run off to the third floor in her messy state, body, and limbs actually weakened from the lack of rest and unfocused mind that didn't even let her see what was ten feet away with clarity. But she had managed not to trip on any step. 

"Pidge! I am going to go get Matt if you don't get here!"

_Oh no, that wasn't good._

Of course, Pidge was happy she had found her brother alive and that he was now a part of the team but it was also a bit limiting to what Hunk referred to as  _gremlin's behavior_ ; this was her older brother, whom she had grown up with and tried to trick infinitesimal only to fail, he knew every single of her tricks and had his sister figured out. And also it had been less than fifteen hours since she found him so he was probably resting and Pidge didn't want to wake him up so he had to deal with her stubbornness.

"Fine," she muttered lowly, finding she was comfortable in her current position with her back leaned against a wall and a bookshelf at her left side, her head resting on her shoulder and hands on her bent knees. Before she knew, she had fallen asleep. 

Lance was a lot of things but in the end, he had a weak heart for cute things and Pidge definitely counted as a cute creature, especially asleep on the floor like that was the cherry on top of the hat.  He couldn't help but take out the cellphone-like-altean thing and snap a picture before he gently picked her up in his arms, assuring the book in her lap as she rested her head on his shoulder. He didn't want to get scolded for losing the book or worst, making her lose the page she was on, the minion would only start from the beginning and hell would break loose if that happened.

He was on his way to his room when he found Matt in the hallway, who was probably going to see his sister. He turned around was about to speak when Lance whispered his threat.

"If you wake her up I'll kill you," he hissed with the best death glare he could manage.

Matt looked confused.

"She hasn't slept in two days and a half," he explained rolling his eyes. "She's been reading and trying to find a cure for Keith."

"Oh," Matt said looking down. "Hey Lance ─you are Lance right?" the other boy nodded. "What happened to Keith?"

Lance opened the door of his room with his foot and laid Katie on the bed, taking off her shoes and glasses, covering her with the blanket and bed cover. The warmer she was, the more she would sleep. He put the book on his desk and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead not noticing Matt's eyes glued to him with an eyebrow raised, then he turned around and closed the door.

Lance sighed.

"He is sick," Lance said gulping.

"Yeah, Shiro told me something about it; what's this about you guys freezing him?" he asked with concern.

He could understand. From what he had heard Matt and Keith used to be in the same class since they entered the Garrison and were good friends. Lance would be concerned if something happened to Hunk too, or Pidge─nope, don't go there Lance.

"It is some sort of terminal disease no one had ever heard about. The point is, flowers grew in his lungs and soon took over his heart, veins, bones, trachea and everything making him bleed internally and choking him. He used to pilot the Red Lion but that was almost a year ago... Pidge feels guilty about it, she had the same disease," he told Matt the truth while nervously playing with the neck of his shirt. "But she was cured and Keith wasn't. She thinks it's her fault but it isn't."

Matt frowned.

"What's the name of this illness?" he asked, hand on his chin.

"Hanahaki," there was a time when Lance would have been proud of himself for being able to pronounce that or even recall it at all, but he had spent so much time with Pidge he could now spell words with five syllables and had a fancier vocabulary. "It─"

Lance looked down, unable to look at Pidge's brother in the eye.

"How come she was cured but Keith got to the point his heart was barely beating?" Matt asked.

Lance blushed.

Now, Lance knew there was a tv show by the name  _Salvados por el Timbre_ but he didn't get why every episode was about high-school dramas without a finale because when things were about to go down the bell rang and everyone went back to classes or the day ended. But at that moment, when the castle's alert started ringing he blessed every single God he knew. Immediately, Pidge emerged from Lance's room and looked distressed as she locked eyes with Lance and they both ran off to their corresponding hangars getting their armors ready.

"Paladins, to yar' lions," said Coran.

"Matt, I'll need you as copilot so I can use the new cloaking function I added," Pidge yelled looking over her shoulder. Her brother didn't lose any time to do as told.

* * *

"Am I the only one who doesn't want to go back to that planet, like, ever again?" said Hunk as he removed his helmet and sat on his sit at the bridge.

"What is wrong with Ambarid?" said Allura, untying her har and letting it flow like ocean waves.

"They had tentacles, that's weird," Hunk replied. "I mean I have heard of some ani─"

"Hunk!" Pidge and Lance cut him at the same time. Allura didn't need to be corrupted like that ─it had been more than enough when they had played 'never have I ever' and Keith and Shiro left her speechless with their weird-ass adventures at the Garrison. 

"I'M JUST SAYING IT'S WEIRD," he said defensively. "Mermaids are one thing but, octopus-like and five eyes? You gotta admit that's some Stephen King kind of creature."

"Hunk, they are our allies so please try and be understanding."

"Yes, princess."

"Where's Shiro?" Matt asked.

Everyone pretended they hadn't heard Matt.

"Is anyone hungry? I can fix some breakfast," said Hunk, totally ignoring Matt.

"I could use some protein," said Lance with a flirty smile as he rose his arm and flexed, making Pidge giggle. "Need to be strong to protect my girl," he added, kissing Pidge's cheek.

"I am starving, it would be joyous if we all could share a meal," said Allura in her gentle tone. 

"I'll go help Hunk with the preparations!" announced Coran.

Everyone grimaced, even Matt.

"DOn't worry Coran, I can handle it, 'kay?" said Hunk, trying his best not to hurt the man's feelings.

"Very well, I'll go and try to convince Shiro to get something to eat."

Coran and Hunk left the room, and the rest sighed.

"It's a lost cause," said Lance.

"I wish there was something we could do for either of them..." Allura sighed, resting her chin on her knees. "He has not eaten in a week, as far as I am concerned that is not an optimal feeding schedule for humans..."

"It is not," said Matt, sitting beside Allura. "Would anyone mind telling me what's wrong with Shiro? Is he sick just like Keith? Can't those healing pods heal anything? Why was Katie able to heal? And since when is my sister dating him?!" 

Allura, Lance, and Pidge exchanged glances.

Allura cleared her throat. "Pidge, I believe you have been making a magnificent progress in your research regarding Keith's condition but haven't gotten enough sleep. Lance, mind walking her to her room and watch over so she rests until breakfast is ready?" _I will handle this,_ said her eyes.

"My pleasure, princess," said Lance as he grabbed Pidge's hand and intertwined their fingers. "Let's get some rest, shall we?"

Pidge nodded and followed Lance.

Allura took a deep breath.

"Ankáthiardiá is not a common illness Matthew," she explained, trying her best not to break down or show her weakness. "It is not contagious or pathological, it is not a virus, bacteria or any microorganism that needs a body as a host. When... When someone's love is true love and it is unrequited, flowers start blooming in the victim's lungs. The only cure is when the beloved returns their feelings. No matter how hard you love that person as a friend or family if your love is not authentical romantic love, the victim will... well, the flowers keep growing and they choke on them, they surround the heart and ribs, it is painful and eventually they," she shivered. "They die. Keith got sick, and apparently whoever he was in love with didn't feel the same way so he continued deteriorating until he could barely breath; right now he is alive but frozen until we find another cure. And Shiro and your sister blame themselves, Shiro thinks he should have noticed something was wrong from the very beginning and Pidge feels guilty because she healed, Lance loves her back. It has been a year and we have not made much progress. And having a friend frozen is not exactly encouraging. Quoting Shiro 'Who cares if we save the universe if we can't save our family?'"

Allura didn't realize tears were rolling down her cheeks until Matt used the sleeve of his shirt to dry them.

"You also blame yourself," it was not a question, it was a statement.

"I already lost someone to Ankáthiardiá, I do not know if I would be able to bare losing another friend."

"It's okay princess, I'm sure there is a way to bring Keith back, the stubborn son of Kerberos won't just die," he said putting a hand on her shoulder and smiling at her.

"He is not dead, his conscience was trapped in the astral plan thanks to the Red Lion, however, it is not easy to get to the astral plane and even when we manage, Keith does not answer. He is losing himself."

"He'll make it through," Matt said, standing up and offering Allura a hand.

She gave him half a smile when she felt the warmth of the eldest Holt sibling's hand.

"I will put my faith in your words, Matthew," she said.

"Matt. Matt is okay," he said, smiling at her like the altean sun on an early sunset. "Let's go get a  _goo_ d meal, princess," he said, making her giggle.

Maybe hope wasn't lost after all.

Matt held Allura's hand gently as they walked to the dining room, letting go of her as he told her he was going to get his sister and Lance. He could have sworn she winked and gave him a flirty smile. 

He was getting familiarized with the castle one hallway at a time, but at least he knew how to get to the bridge, the kitchen, his room and Pidge's. But he still was not familiarized with her sister having a boyfriend two head taller than her and both of them acting like children whenever they were not fighting an evilish empire, and spending the rest of the time cuddling in cheesy positions like his head on her lap or her head on her shoulder or─ okay Matt didn't want to go there. His sister had a boyfriend. That was just as much as he needed to know, but what he wished was never what he got so, of course, his sister's room was empty so he reluctantly went to the other guy's room (it was still too early for him to call him by his actual name) to actually find them spooning. His little sister was spooning. She was the big spoon. Okay, that actually made him feel at ease. That was a Katie move. He gently knocked on the wall while rolling his eyes.

"Breakfast is ready, dorks," he said and left. 

* * *

"Seriously, is nobody going to tell me what's happening between my sister and that guy?" he asked, his mouth filled with goo.

"We already told you, it's kinda like soulmates stuff, they have been together for like about a year or more, who knows, it was about three months before we..."

"HUNK!" Yelled everyone.

"Oh right..." he said, lowering his head.

Matt also looked down, dropping his fork.

"Keith."

Allura nodded.

"We don't talk about it Matthew, it is a sensitive topic..." said Allura putting her hand over his. "It is a pill we can't still swallow. The reminder that we failed to save him. That was an intense day, we all did our best to try and save him and all we could do was..."

"It's okay princess, you don't have to tell me twice," Matt said, smiling at Allura.

A voice came from the door.

"Matt you've been here for less than 24 hours and you're already getting started?" Pidge asked smugly.

"Respect my dude," said Lance, yawning.

"What?!"

"Respect dude," he said and winked. "It took me like a year or so and it took you less than a day. Your bro's got talent," he said as he sat in front of Pidge.

"What is the meaning behind those words, Lance?" asked Allura, ready to bend her spoon.

Everyone except Matt and Allura either laughed really loud or giggled.

"Princess, I think they are making allusion to your exponentially growing relationship with mister Holt."

"WHaT?!" Yelled both Allura and Matt.

"Coran, there is no relationship here. We just met," said Allura, a bit offended.

"Same," said Matt, blushing and stuffing more goo in his mouth. "X2." 

"You are rushing into conclusions, Coran."

"Ya', one would say you like trampolines since you love jumping to conclusions."

Lance gasped, "He memes." He dropped his spoon and looked at Pidge with wide eyes. "You never told me your brother memed!"

"Matt what now?" she asked, confused.

"Your brother memes!"

"He does?" she asked.

"He definitely does, his puns give me headaches," added Hunk.

"My puns are _eggcenlent_ ," he said, smiling smugly as he took a bite of an egg-shaped... thing that Hunk prepared.

Allura giggled softly.

"Your brother is hilarious Pidge, I'll give you that," she said, trying to hold back her giggles with a hand over her mouth.

" _andhansome_ ," added Hunk, wiggling his eyebrows.

Pidge and Lance exchanged knowing looks and then Hunk joined. Moments after, Coran was included.

"What are you planning?" Matt asked, narrowing his eyes as Pidge smirked.

"Well, Matthew─"

"Hey, Matt is okay," he said, smiling at the princess. And everyone but him noticed how Allura chewed her lip and blushed. 

" _Matt,_ " and God, she was so flustered everyone in the room felt the UST. Allura gulped, "Matt, why don't you go talk to Shiro? I have the certainty you two have much to catch up on, his room is down this hall, fourth door. If he is not there you are likely to find him in the training deck." Allura smiled kindly and waved goodbye.

After Matt let the room, Lance whispered: "Allura has it bad for your bro..."

"I certainly do not have a thing for Matthew," Allura claimed, crossing her arms stubbornly.

Pidge saw a change=Pidge took the chance,

"Then why do you refuse to call him Matt?"

Everyone  _rushed._

"I can refer to him for his real name or nickname," she rolled her eyes and pretended she didn't blush.

"I say she needs to call him Matt," chimed in Lance.

"Call him Matt! Call him Matt! Call him Matt! Call him Matt! Call him Matt! Call him Matt! Call him Matt! Call him Matt! Call him Matt!" Pidge started chanting, soon joined by Hunk and Lance. Even Coran was doing his best to join the teens' chant.

Allura's expression saddened as she realized Shiro should be there, chanting with them. And Keith rolling his eyes, pretending to be exasperated when he really was fighting back the impulse to chant along the rest of the paladins. Allura lowered her head, clenching her fists and teeth.

"Shiro has not taken a bite in weeks and we have no leads on how to cure Keith and you are being childish trying to get me a love life when everyone who loves me dies; Aldan died because of that, Keith is dying because of that and Pidge was close to dying. Love is dangerous and you guys are pretending it is fine and that we can joke about it!"

"..."

"Who's Al─"

"We do not go there!" cut Coran.

Allura shut her eyes tightly.

"I will go do some research since Pidge has clearly forgotten about it since Matthew is back," she said before she stormed off.

There was a tense silence for minutes that felt like hours.

"I have not forgotten..." Pidge muttered, only to her ears.

Lance stood up to sit by her side, pulling her into a hug. 

* * *

"Well, Shiro is nowhere to be fou... princess? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Matt asked as soon as he reached the bridge. 

Allura was sitting on the ground in the bridge, her back and head leaned against the crystal wall, tears running down her cheeks. It was the first time Matt saw her without her bun or that ponytail thing she used when she was being diplomatic. Now her wavy hair was an untied mess and tangling in her limbs and getting straight as her tears got on the way. Stars shined above her, behind her, by her side. And it felt right, she belonged among the stars. As soon as she realized she was not alone she whipped away her tears and hid stood up.

"Mattew... Do not worry, this does not concern you," she said in a quite monotonous tone. 

Matt walked up to where she was standing and sat down, patting his side, urging her to sit beside him. Allura took the chance. As soon as she sat on the ground Matt put his arm around her waist, making her tense up, but she had nothing to fear, not near Matt; he gave her a calming sensation and made her feel at ease. She gently rested her hand on his shoulder and he tangled his fingers in her hair.

"Everything will be fine, I already told you," he said giggling, tilting his head over hers.

"It does not feel like it..." she said, sobbing. 

"We'll get Shiro back to his _Shironess_ and find a way to save Keith, you won't lose anyone else, believe me. Here comes a secret," he whispered pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Shiro actually loves Keith back," he whispered.

Allura stared at him with eyes wide as moons.

"Who told you... What... How did you find out?" she rushed with her questions.

"Keith has been in love with Shiro ever since they met and even though Shiro may not know it yet, he does love Keith in more ways than you can imagine."

"Are you certain?" she asked, hopefully.

Matt nodded. 

* * *

"Allura has it for your brother, real bad."

"Matt is quite fond of her too," she said as she tied her hair in a french braid and put on her glasses. "I'm going to the library," she announced, knowing she would not go alone. "No way in hell I'll let Allura find a cure before me!"

Lance whistled.

"Shouldn't you be competitive regarding Keith's life."

"I know; also, you helpin' me blind date those two?"

"Count Hunk in too."

"I already did."

"Now, that's  _my_ princess."

* * *

Allura did not enjoy being ordered around, especially when no one told her why she was being summoned at the bridge, Coran should know better than to just tell her to be at the bridge in a few hours. Still, she followed instructions. 

* * *

Hunk's cooking was better than any other night, it would relief the team if their mother figure wasn't so stressed and their  _dad_ figure wasn't a weeping mess. So maybe bringing Matt and Allura together was actually a good idea. He excelled his cooking and even managed to produce some sort of tequila according to Pidge, he was sure it would get them a bit tipsy so they would loosen up while enjoying some sweet space gourmet experience. 

* * *

Lance was not bragging. He definitely knew his way with the ladies and vibed up with Matt, he also memed so he'd find the situation rather in his side. Besides, before he found out his Kittie-Katie was the true love of his life he had his lady-game on point. He knew just where to set the candles to make his good looks remarkable and so that Pidge looked breathtaking. He was the master of romance, and he had proven himself to the less feminine girl and won her heart with an amusing speech and dating tips. 

And he was a master of chillaxing. And Allura refused to admit chillax was a word, which meant she needed to chillax an awful lot. And what a better way to chillax than with a stupid and childish boardgame, and after they were a bit tipsy, he had  _'accidentally'_ left the rules of a drinking game nearby. 

He had thought on using red roses but Pidge had smacked him into reality, that would ruin Allura's mood. So he got a handful of flowers from the latest planet they visited and put some in a vase and one in Allura's plate. Why was he sure that would be her plate? Because she always sat on the left side of the table regardless of who sat first. 

* * *

Pidge knew a few things about love. But she knew her brother damn well, and she knew just how to get under his skin and make him wear his heart on his sleeve. It was just about putting the right topics to get him passionate about the universe so he could have something to talk with her with. 

With her mischievous boyfriend's help, they had armed Matt's favorite game Snakes and Ladders, she had made the pieces and let Lance do the drawings of the board, he turned out to be a great artist after all. They had managed to get their hands on a chess board and pieces when they went to the space mall (seriously, she should have known she and Lance would be a thing, they loved almost everything) and had melted the chocolate she and Hunk processed once they deintegrated the formula and made sure to cover the _strawberries_ with the chocolate, the perfect dessert for a date. 

She and Hunk had also replicated the chemical composition of the alcohol close enough so that it tasted like juice but was almost as intense as tequila. God bless the agave and its semi-structural formula that resembled the hexagons of the altean coding language. That would be the cherry on top of the cake, Hunk thought it would get them tipsy but she knew it took five sips (or two shots) to get Matt to loosen up and shake off his nerdy-shield. Now he wasn't going up to bottle up his feelings like he did with Harriett (Matt didn't knew Pidge knew).

* * *

Coran was still skeptical about this plan but his best wish was the princess' well being and that included his state of mind. The young paladins had not let him tell them his story about how love changes lives. Still, he gave Allura the order the younglings had asked for. 

* * *

Matt knew Pidge was up to something and it involved her boyfriend. His best guess was that she probably wanted to formally introduce him as her partner after dating for a year.

But no.

This time, the gremlin played him good.

Never in his life had he imagined he would have a date with a princess. Never in his life did he even picture himself in a date. Not only because there were no princesses on earth but also because he was just a standard space nerd. He had never focused on love. Except for that one girl Harriett from his advanced coding class.

But Harriett would never compare to Allura's beauty or brains or charisma or... He was getting a step ahead of Pidge. The brat had set him up on a blind date that wasn't blind, she clearly noticed he liked Allura but there was no way she liked him back. 

And both of them pretended it was not a date. They sat and ate in silence surrounded by candles and some pretty flowers. At first, Matt was unsure if he should trust whatever beverage Pidge and her sneaky boyfriend had given them if Lance wasn't so tall, he'll sure call him a gremlin too. But it tasted like apple juice so he just took a few sips and before he knew it he was drunk and declaring his feeling for the princess.

"...an' yar' pretty and smart an' thenkin' of ya' kinda of makes ma' day betta' an' havin' meet ya' is one of─if it ain't da' betta' thing to happen to me."

Allura was speechless. 

* * *

"Matt, are you leaving?" asked Pidge, distressed.

"He is a man of trust, he will be leading the rebels from now on," said Allura with a happy smile. " _Matt_ be paying us visits frequently, after all, we will be in contact as he should brief us constantly."

A few minutes after Matt took off, Allura smirked at her teammates. 

"Pidge, your brother _Matt_ is amazing." 

The yellow daffodil marking on her wrist, where they had first touched went as unnoticed as did the matching one in Matt's hand; except for Pidge and Lance, who knew what that meant, after all, Pidge's right and Lance's left shoulders had white lilac markings.

**Author's Note:**

> Eh, the next part is, uh, I mean, super, like super, extremely fucked up. If you don't like gore or you are triggered by heavy violence and creepy hallucinations I sincerely recommend you to skip Even In Death and wait for Drown. Because part three is really fucked up, I mean it.


End file.
